WEST virginia legislature
2019 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 641
By Senators Maroney and Takubo
[Introduced February
18, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance]
A BILL to repeal §16-2H-3 and §16-2H-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §16-2H-2 of said code, relating to the Primary Care Support Program; eliminating loan fund; and creating grant fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 2H. PRIMARY CARE SUPPORT PROGRAM.
§16-2H-2. Primary care
support program. primary care revolving loan fund; primary care
uncompensated care fund; seed money and technical assistance
(a) There is hereby created
the “Primary Care Support Program” within the Division of Bureau of
Public Health within the Department of Health and Human Resources. The
program shall provide technical and organizational assistance to
community-based primary care services. throughout the state.
(b) The Primary Care Support
Program shall create and administer a primary care revolving loan fund
to lend grant fund to grant money to federally qualified health
centers and federally qualified health center look-alikes and secure federal
medical assistance percentage funding. primary care centers in need of
immediate financial assistance. In order to qualify for the loans, a
primary care center must be a nonprofit corporation, have a community board,
provide services to the public regardless of ability to pay (such as on a
sliding fee scale basis) and present proof of designation as a federally
qualified health center or rural health center, of steps taken to qualify as a
federally qualified health center or rural health center or of why status as a
federally qualified or rural health center would not result in improved
revenues to the center. Federally qualified health center look-alikes
already receiving grant funding at the time this program is created shall
continue to receive grant funding annually. Upon approval by the secretary of
the department, federally qualified health centers in need of immediate
financial assistance may be granted funding annually. All remaining funds may
be transferred to Medicaid for the purpose of securing federal medical
assistance percentage funding.
There is hereby created a special revenue fund in the State
Treasury to be known as the Primary Care Loan Support Fund into
which all appropriations, payments and interest to the revolving loan
fund created herein shall be deposited, to be held and disbursed according to
law.
(c) The primary care support program shall create
and administer a “Primary Care Uncompensated Care Fund”. All revenues contained
in the fund shall be distributed to primary care centers in the form of grants
designed to offset the primary care centers' costs of providing uncompensated
health care services. In order to qualify for the grants, a primary care center
must be a nonprofit corporation, have a community board, provide services to
the public regardless of ability to pay (such as on a sliding fee scale basis)
and present proof of designation as a federally qualified health center or
rural health center, of steps taken to qualify as a federally qualified health
center or rural health center, or of why status as a federally qualified or
rural health center would not result in improved revenues to the center The
primary care support program shall conduct and make available upon request an
annual primary care report which shall consist of total West Virginia Medicaid
primary care expenditures as a percentage of total West Virginia Medicaid
expenditures.
(d) The primary care support program shall provide
seed money grants and technical assistance to help nonprofit, community-based
organizations create new primary care services for people in their community.
Under no circumstances will a specific project be entitled to receive the
grants for more than three years. In order to qualify for the grants, applicants
must provide the following:
(1) A description of an unmet need for certain primary
care services in their community;
(2) A detailed account, including a budget, of how the
applicant's project will use technical and financial assistance from the
program and other sources to develop the primary care services within one year
that will be available to the public regardless of ability to pay;
(3) A detailed account, including a budget, showing
how the services will continue to be funded once established and showing how
potential federal and charitable funds will be maximized;
(4) An account of the extent of community involvement
and support for the project;
(5) A description of how the project will be
coordinated with local activities of the division of health, regional health
advisory councils, the health care planning commission, medical schools, local
health departments, primary care clinics or other public health agencies
(e) (d)
The director of health shall promulgate rules in accordance with article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the provisions of this article,
and shall approve all loans, grants and disbursements of money authorized by
this article.
§16-2H-3. Preventive services and health education.
[Repealed]
§16-2H-4. Advisory board.
[Repealed]
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the Primary Care Revolving Loan fund to a grant fund.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.